Treasury

Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation And Adjustments) Bill

lord agnew of oulton: I have made a statement under Section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998 that, in my view, the provisions of the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Bill are compatible with the convention rights. A copy of the statement has been placed in the Library of the House.

Cabinet Office

Negotiations on the UK's future relationship with the EU: update

lord true: My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove) has made the following statement:Negotiators from the UK and the EU met in Brussels on 2 – 5 March 2020 for the first round of negotiations on the UK-EU future relationship.The negotiations were formally launched by the UK’s Chief Negotiator, David Frost, and by the European Commission’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, in a plenary session on 2 March.The substantive discussions then took place within eleven separate negotiating groups, as agreed between the parties and as set out in the Terms of Reference (here). The session closed with a further plenary on 5 March.Both sides presented their positions as set out in the EU mandate and in the document “The Future Relationship with the EU - The UK’s Approach to Negotiations” (CP211). The UK’s team made clear that on 1 January 2021 the UK would regain its economic and political independence in full, and that the future relationship would need to reflect that reality.Discussions in some areas identified a degree of common understanding of the ground that future talks could cover. In other areas, notably fisheries, governance and dispute settlement, and the so-called “level playing field”, there were, as expected, significant differences.The next negotiating round will take place on 18-20 March in London. The UK expects to table a number of legal texts, including a draft FTA, beforehand.


This statement has also been made in the House of Commons: 
HCWS153

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Correction

baroness sugg: On 2 March, my honourable friend, the Minister for Asia, responded to an Urgent Question on Coronavirus and British citizens imprisoned abroad. I repeated his response in the form of a Statement on the same day. Both my honourable friend and I said "“Today, a plane departed the UK with vital materials such as equipment for laboratory tests as well as other equipment, including protective body suits and gloves”. We should have said "Today, a plane departed with vital materials such as equipment for laboratory tests as well as other equipment, including protective body suits and gloves”. My honourable friend's record has since been corrected.